The Heroin Epidemic

Of a subset of them, it most certainly is.

 

Sorry Card, I do not think that there are tons of physicians that woudl like to expose themselves to that kind of risk by hiring PAs who are blatantly dealing drugs on the side.

And, sorry, but this "doctor is a softie" story doesn't quite add up. There's no way he's going to allow his PAs to be distributing drugs for cash on the side without more than plausible deniability. So i guess you don't know what to tell me. Because, no, regular doctors aren't "more than willing' to take expose themselves to criminal liability.

Would I hire a new associate who I know is the kingpin for a cocaine distribution operation? Of course not. What's to gain and what's to lose?

 

Well that does sound suspicious. I don't hear of anything like that around these parts, though.

 

What does that mean?

 

That they're known to write prescriptions for anything and the pharmacy won't fill their prescriptions

 

If you say so.

Every industry has it's cheats. Medical is no exception.

 

I assume 99% of them are TennCare?

 

Well doctors prescribe drugs; this is what they do. And patients require drugs; again, part of their "job" description. And some patients have pain and will need opiates and doctors can legally prescribe those. And some doctors might even get a little bit looser with those prescriptions than others while still being very much in the bounds of the law.

But what you're talking about is essentially a convenience store where you buy prescriptions, and I don't know how the risks don't outweigh the monetary rewards there, and one doesn't have to be super smart to see what side the risk/reward scale tilts towards. So I suppose that, again, you simply do not know what else to tell me.

All I am really saying here is that the economics of the "pill mill" business model do not add up to the extent that they should be anything other than very rare.

 

No pharmacy will fill them?

 

Okie dokie.

 

Not generally unless it's from the er and then they have to fill the whole prescription or they won't fill it

 

Because no one would be this stupid.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/05/0...illion-dollar-ring-pill-mills-behind-upscale/

 

Some will fill for anything and don't give a shit but they're pretty shady

 

Interesting. Honestly. The in-state primary care/urgent care clinics I work with talk about how it's usually TennCare patients that are the worst for them trying to get pain meds.

 

A common theme here is federal prosecutors and FBI agents, which would seem to support my point. But what the hell do I know about the balancing of monetary gain and criminal risk? It's not like I practice criminal defense and have a gambling problem or anything.*

*The last sentence is a joke, to be clear.

 

It's not like I don't work for a 100 person healthcare consulting firm with clients all over the place. What do I know about the industry?

 

You got to get sloppy though because they have to have an air tight case because they're busting people with money.

Same reason the dea doesn't go into middle and upper class neighborhoods enforcing the law

 

Apparently that, again, as I've noted, your purported business model here looks about as desirable as an ice cream truck in anchorage.

http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/08/04/pill-mill-crackdown

 

And there are still dumbasses who practice it and think they will get away with it.

 

An interesting point about that DEA article, though, is whether they're making it -- or will make it as an unintended consequence -- easier to get Heroin than prescription opiates. If so, then forgive me if I question the public policy agenda motivating such an aggressive crackdown of prescription opiates.

If you're gonna pick one or the other, you gotta go with the oxy. I should be clear here that I do not have any idea at all how easy or difficult it is to get Heroin. I'm just posing the hypothetical as food for thought.